If you are a South Texan, even if you've never been on a ship, the Port of Corpus Christi makes a big impact on you. It's the nation's fourth-largest port, cargo tonnage-wise, and the leading oil export port. Those are big reasons why five bills in the Texas Legislature should be of huge interest to you. All of them are about the port.

One of them calls for a sunset review of the port, which is interesting because sunset reviews look into whether an agency should be reorganized or, in some extreme cases, disbanded. (Don't fret. Ditching the port is unlikely.)

But the real shocker among these bills is one that calls for an in-depth reorganization of port governance to make sure it's done ethically. The bill includes a job description for the port executive director and a requirement that he or she personally put up a $10,000 bond. It seems to signal that something is dreadfully wrong with how the port operates.

Who'd want to rock this boat?

The author of all five bills is state Rep. J.M. Lozano, who hails from the landlocked city of Kingsville, about 50 miles from the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, whose district does not include Nueces County. That's important to note because the port was organized in 1923 as a subdivision of Nueces County.

An aerial view of the Port of Corpus Christi in 2018.(Photo: Contributed photo)

But Lozano's district includes San Patricio County, on the other side of the ship channel, and the other three bills are in the service of that county specifically.

One bill would expand the Port Commission, the port's appointed governing body, from seven to nine and would increase San Pat's representation from one to three port commissioners.

Another would leave the commission at seven members but would increase San Pat's representation to two by taking one from Nueces County. Currently it's three commissioners each for Nueces and the city of Corpus Christi and one for San Pat.

State Rep. J.M. Lozano, R-Kingsville.(Photo: Contributed)

The third San Pat-related bill would change the name to the Port of Corpus Christi Authority of Nueces and San Patricio Counties.

State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, has filed Senate versions of Lozano's bills, but they're Lozano's bills. It boils down to San Patricio County wanting more representation on the Port Commission — and Nueces County not wanting to give it.

Why accommodate San Patricio?

The San Pat folks base their argument on recent years of phenomenal industrial growth on their side of the channel — and on the real expectation of more to come. They've gotten the Chinese steel pipe plant TPCO, the iron refiner Voestalpine, the giant Cheniere natural gas export terminal and an OxyChem expansion. They're awaiting a huge Exxon plastics plant. And on Thursday the CEO and other honchos of a steel manufacturer visited Sinton, the San Pat County seat — a sign that they're serious about maybe putting a plant there that would employ 600. That's more jobs than at a good-sized oil refinery.

What makes the San Pat side of the channel so attractive? Simply, available land. The Corpus Christi side of the channel is packed with large legacy industries led by the Citgo, Flint Hills and Valero refineries.

The San Pat officials asked for and expected Lozano's two bills about giving them more port commissioners. The bill keeping the commission at seven members was their concession to widespread objection that going from seven to nine port commissioners turns a quiet menagerie into a loud zoo.

But the San Pat officials are adamant that they did not expect the other three bills. That was Lozano's doing.

Who's the genius?

They also have no explanation for the masterful, Machiavellian comprehensiveness of these bills. Nobody says Lozano isn't smart enough to have pulled it off. What everyone's saying is that nobody's that smart. But many point out that the sunset and ethics bills closely mirror previous legislation to reform the Port of Houston. So, Lozano didn't have to start from scratch.

The two bills that the San Pat folks wanted are not unfriendly. But the other three seem like a hostile takeover attempt. Why?

That would be a good question for Lozano, who didn't return several calls, to answer.

But San Pat officials who are in Lozano's ear point to the port's purchase of 2,800 undeveloped acres next to San Pat's airport, some of which is in Ingleside's city limits, as an example of why they want more port representation. They are concerned about the airport having room to expand, and about what was private property now being off the tax rolls. The purchase was a done deal before city or county officials found out. And their port commissioner, Wes Hoskins, can't be on every ground-floor decision-influencing committee.

Buy Photo

Sean Strawbridge, Chief Executive Officer for the Port of Corpus Christi, speaks during the city council meeting on Tuesday, June 19, 2018 at Corpus Christi City Hall. (Photo: Casey Jackson/Caller-Times)

San Pat officials also say they and Lozano have been crosswise with port CEO Sean Strawbridge. They describe his personality as a mix of East and West Coasts, not folksy.

To all of that, Strawbridge answers that he's business-focused, not politics-focused. The port is, in essence, a public utility and that's how he tries to manage it, he says, with oversight from a deeply engaged Port Commission.

Will these bills pass?

What are the chances this legislation will pass? Unlikely, because state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, whose district includes Nueces, and Reps. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, and Abel Herrero, D-Robstown, will back their constituents on this non-statewide matter.

But this legislative package could achieve the desired effect — a compromise, which is an outcome that Hinojosa, Herrero and Hunter would welcome.

That doesn't mean no harm, no foul. Officials on both sides say this legislation and the underlying feud can scare away business. Foster Edwards, executive director of the
San Patricio County Economic Development Corp., doesn't buy that. He's outnumbered. But he's also right that the same argument was made against the Port Commission expanding from three members to five, and then to seven, and the port has not stopped growing.

Why not give San Pat another seat? The sticking point is the population difference — 67,000 in San Pat, 361,000 in Nueces. The math says San Pat is about 19 percent the size of Nueces, population-wise. Two port commission members would be 29 percent of the seven-member commission, and three would be a third of a nine-member commission.

The math is an argument against giving San Pat three of nine commissioners. It's a much fainter argument against two of seven.

This feud raises interesting questions about how the port will be overseen as it grows and as different parties discover that they have a big stake in it. It has occurred to Herrero, for example, that Robstown would have a good argument for a port representative because it's a land port and a highway hub with developable land a reasonably short distance from the channel.

That would throw a new wrinkle into how a port commissioner would approach the position. In the port's long history, with few exceptions, an appointment was based on the economic sector that the appointee would represent, not on geography.